Grants We Funded
Grant applicants for the 2023 cycle requested a total of nearly $4 million dollars. The PSF Study Section Subcommittees of Basic & Translational Research and Clinical Research evaluated nearly 140 grant applications on the following topics:
The PSF awarded research grants totaling over $1 million dollars to support nearly 30 plastic surgery research proposals.
ASPS/PSF leadership is committed to continuing to provide high levels of investigator-initiated research support to ensure that plastic surgeons have the needed research resources to be pioneers and innovators in advancing the practice of medicine.
Research Abstracts
Search The PSF database to have easy access to full-text grant abstracts from past PSF-funded research projects 2003 to present. All abstracts are the work of the Principal Investigators and were retrieved from their PSF grant applications. Several different filters may be applied to locate abstracts specific to a particular focus area or PSF funding mechanism.
Strategies for Repair of Infected Calvarial Bone Defects
Sanjay Naran MD
2013
University of Pittsburgh
Pilot Research Grant
Cranio / Maxillofacial / Head and Neck, Tissue Engineering
Complex craniofacial wounds resulting in calvarial defects are commonly seen in myriad of settings. These injuries are often complicated by complex microbial contamination resulting in infection. Infection often results in complications of scarring, growth inhibition, and oftentimes osteonecrosis with the subsequent loss of calvarial bone flaps. These infection-induced changes often limit options for primary salvage and can impair secondary reconstruction by inhibiting bone healing and growth, causing further tissue scarring, and affecting overall functional recovery. Our ability to reconstruct skull defects that result from infection and subsequent scarring continues to evolve. However, methods currently available have demonstrated variable efficacy. This limitation obligates the need for the development of alternative strategies and experimental models through which to test them. The expanded use of bone-inducing bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-based therapy has demonstrated promising potential for skull reconstruction. The goal of our study is to assess the efficacy of BMP-based therapies in an infected skull defect model. To achieve this objective, we will use different tissue engineering strategies including growth factor delivery, progenitor cell implantation, endogenous stem cell release, and combinations of these three strategies to rapidly build biomechanically sound bone in a unique post-infection mouse calvarial bone defect model. The results of this proposed work provide a basis for the creation of a better therapeutic modality to treat craniofacial bone defects complicated by infection and subsequent scaring.
Sanjay Naran, MD completed his undergraduate studies in Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and upon matriculation was accepted into the integrated plastic surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Naran’s clinical and basic science research interests, performed under the mentorship of Dr. Joseph Losee and Dr. Gregory Cooper, include oro-facial clefting, craniosynostosis, and skull reconstruction in the pediatric population.